At FEMNET, African Girls and Young Women are a core political constituency and a priority in our feminist movement-building work across the continent. They are not simply participants, beneficiaries or voices to be included after decisions have been made, they are rights holders, organisers, advocates, storytellers and leaders whose lived realities, analysis and courage continue to shape FEMNET’s agenda and work in Africa. Their leadership matters because the issues at the heart of Africa’s feminist struggle, from bodily autonomy, education, climate justice and economic dignity to peace, digital safety, anti-rights pushback and accountability, are deeply connected to their lives and futures. By centering girls and young women, FEMNET strengthens intergenerational feminist solidarity and ensures that the movement is not only speaking for them, but building with them, learning from them and standing alongside them as they claim power, dignity, justice and freedom.
Read moreThis is a continental political home for African girls and young women. It brings together their voices, ideas, organising, stories, demands and collective power. It is a space where girls and young women can shape feminist agendas, influence decisions and hold institutions accountable.
A space where girls and young women are recognised as feminist thinkers, leaders and organisers whose ideas shape FEMNET’s work and Africa’s feminist agenda.
A platform for girls and young women in africa to share their realities, ideas, stories, demands and creative work in their own voices.
A pathway connecting girls and young women to movements, policy spaces, decision-makers and opportunities for collective action.
These priorities connect FEMNET’s wider feminist agenda to the lived realities, demands and leadership of African girls and young women.
FEMNET strengthens girls’ and young women’s leadership, voice and organising power across Africa. This includes supporting their meaningful participation in decision-making spaces, building intergenerational feminist solidarity, creating platforms for storytelling and expression, and ensuring that girls and young women are not only invited into spaces, but are able to shape the agenda, influence outcomes and build movements.
Read moreFEMNET works with girls and young women to advance sexual and reproductive health and rights, bodily autonomy, menstrual dignity, comprehensive sexuality education, and freedom from all forms of violence. This includes advocacy against harmful practices such as FGM and child, early and forced marriage, as well as work around sexual violence, technology-facilitated GBV, digital safety, and the full implementation of the Maputo Protocol.
Read moreFEMNET centres girls and young women in conversations on climate justice, natural resource governance, education, economic dignity and livelihoods. This priority recognises that climate crisis, poverty, unpaid care work, exclusion from education, unemployment and unequal access to resources are deeply connected, and that girls and young women must be part of shaping feminist solutions to Africa’s development challenges.
Read moreFEMNET supports girls and young women to engage with policy processes, demand accountability from governments and institutions, and push back against anti-rights movements, shrinking civic space and systems that limit their freedom. This includes strengthening their role in regional and global advocacy spaces, including around the Maputo Protocol, peace and security, reparative justice, human rights, and feminist accountability.
Read moreA resource shelf for girls, young women, movements, partners and allies looking for practical tools, political analysis and creative material to support feminist organizing.
Simple guides on advocacy, SRHR, Maputo Protocol, safeguarding, storytelling, digital safety and feminist organising.
Girls’ and young women’s demands, Festival outcomes, communiqués, calls to action and policy asks.
Simple guides on advocacy, SRHR, Maputo Protocol, safeguarding, storytelling, digital safety and feminist organising.
Poems, reflections, visual stories, videos and creative work by African girls and young women.
Short feminist analysis on bodily autonomy, education, climate justice, peace, digital safety and accountability.
Materials for leadership, advocacy, movement building, public speaking, care and feminist political education.
FEMNET works with girls and young women to understand, claim, monitor and demand the full implementation of the Maputo Protocol. Our engagement links the Protocol to their lived realities, including bodily autonomy, SRHR, education, violence, digital safety, political participation, peace, dignity and accountability.
Making the Maputo Protocol accessible to girls and young women in language that connects to their lives and organising realities.
Creating platforms for girls and young women to speak from their countries, communities and movements about what implementation means.
Supporting girls and young women to ask what governments, AU organs, movements and allies must do to move from commitments.
Connecting the Protocol to advocacy on harmful practices, SRHR, safety, education, participation, reparations and human rights.
Since 2021, FEMNET has organised the African Girls and Young Women Festival as a bold, political and creative platform for adolescent girls and young women across Africa. The Festival brings together policy, art, care, solidarity, intergenerational learning and movement building.
This section should hold the Festival as a living hub, not only an event page. It should document the journey, past editions, themes, political outcomes, stories, declarations, photos, media and the road to the next Festival.
Young girls and women in Africa have often been overlooked and forced to endure pertinent issues such as traditional beliefs and practices which keep women subjugated, including bride-wealth, child marriage, and female genital mutilation.
